Amusing story. Last weekend while driving through town a silver CLK 55 pulls alongside me...and jumps his car (what's that about - thought you MB types were classy? ;-).

So I think, "sure - I'm in a 2003 Maxima with a 3.5 V6 vs. a CLK with a 5.5 supercharged V8...what the hell?"

Anyway, long story short we hit the highway and both drop it. I was actually pleased that the MB didn't just vanish in a puff of smoke, which I half expected. But he steadily walked away up to about 130, at which point I start catching up (he probably waited - but he was still accelerating so dunno). Having had my fun, I lift off to take my exit - and he gives me the cool wave and drops it again. Pretty funny.

Anyway, nice cars - until I looked up the specs I didn't realize they're THAT fast. Pretty too (even from behind :-)

 

If it was a stock CLK55, it did not have a supercharger. Normally aspirated V8 (342hp / 376ft-lbs torque).

Now, add a blower and you'd better HOLD ON!

Chappy

p.s. This guy was probably driving his dad's AMG! (to your point about wanting to race you)

 

Chappy,
You beat me to it! LOL

Non-MB,
Jumped his car? What’s that about? I hope you are not referring to Hydraulic?
Later,
Tim

 

Fortunately not, although that would be pretty funny. No, I mean he pulled alongside and floored it for a second (so the car "jumps" about 30 feet then slows back down).

This guy looked forty-ish, so it was probably his car (that's my guess for your demographics). Still, it was a nice day and he was having fun, so what the heck - I hadn't yet had a chance to open up my car on the highway so was curious anyway.

Oh, and here's a question for you that should inspire a spirited response. On another board someone asked "what's faster, an M5 or a CLK AMG?" Judging by the flaming on a non-BMW or Mercedes board, this is a controversial subject?

 

There's no secret here...

An M5 in the hands of a capable driver (near professional) will be quicker. All the car rags say it.

The real world winds up being a little different, though. With the auto doing all the work, the AMG car actually has the advantage in most 'real world' cases. Why? Simple....No mistakes.

One tenth or two tenths of a second goes by pretty quick. Shifting a manual at the correct rpm for maximum acceleration in each gear requires talent. Slow clutch? Missed shift? The AMG has just had you for breakfast

Chappy

 

Tim, I don't know how that happened

Me beat you, LOL.....YOU'RE the one with the supercharged beast

 

Hey Timster, is your car for sale or something?? I saw a magma red supercharged 55 that was for sale on the website of a benz tuner. Can't remember the page, but they did Renntech and Kleemann mods.

 

Wasn't me!
I still have mine and plan to keep it until I can get a SL55 AMG
Tim

 

Trock3155,

I believe the one you are referring to is a red CLK55 (gold package, no less) with a Kleemann supercharger installed.

The car is located at MB Autowerks, North of Atlanta. Hope this helps!

Chappy

 

Yes very true. So don't get me wrong i have a maxima as my other car and everytime i see one of my fellow AMGer's i just look at them. You don't wanna start a race with those unless you have at least 300hp at the wheels.

 

Amen to that! One other factor: I think that the mags' times are deceiving, because of the launch advantages enjoyed by the M cars: both of them have wider rubber on the rear (10mm with the M3, 30mm with the M5), which allows the test drivers to rev them up a bit higher & dump the clutch without getting tons of spin. Whereas the too-skinny (imo, for this much torque) 245's on the back of the CLK55 prevent you from doing a launch at anything much over idle speeds, which costs the CLK a few tenths and gives the M cars an advantage.

Also, if you look at the Car & Driver 5mph-60mph rolling start runs, the CLK55 scores dead even with the M cars. And when you compare the times of the fatter-tired (275mm vs 245 mm) E55 (last gen) vs the CLK55, you'll see that they're the same, or that the E55 is faster. Yet it has the same motor, same gearing, and is about 300 pounds heavier; you lose about 1/10 for every 100 pounds you add, so it should be 0.3 slower, but the added grip off the line allows it to make up the difference. Clearly, if the CLK had those phat 275/18's on the back, it'd be bye-bye M...

I went to the dragstrip twice lately, and both times, my best times were done with a 1000 rpm power-braked launch; I tried going higher than this a few times, but it only resulted in tons of wheelspin, forcing me to let off. If I could go up to more like 2000 rpm before launch (as the M cars can thanks to their wider rubber), I'd definitely have shaved probably 0.3-0.4 off of my time, which would have put me at a 13.0 or a 13.1...

Anyway, on the street, the only M guy whose beaten me thus far is a guy whose modded his with exhaust and intake; he says that he's pulling 30-40 more hp on dyno runs than stock, and even with that, he only got me by one length. The stockers I've run (both M5s and M3s), I've consistently pulled by 3-4 carlengths...I'd chalk this up to driver error were it not for the consistency, and the fact that it also happens in roll situations too, where error shouldn't play as much of a factor. This is with around 15 runs total: four m5s, and over ten M3s, from stop and roll, up high and down low. The differences are smaller once on a roll, but the results are the same.

The odd thing is those rolling start times: they say the cars should be even from a roll to 60, but I've always pulled them from rolling-start races down low...weird..

Also, others have had the same experiences as I: here are some CLK55 (and an E55, the last one) vs. M car links I found & bookmarked when I searched for this stuff some time ago (I was curious too! :-)

...One...

...two...

...three...

...four...

...five...

...six...

...seven.

 

I am going to MB Autowerks this Saturday (12/14). At 2pm, there will be a GTG and several CLK55 there (two Kleemann modified CLK55's included).

I hope to get a ride in one of them

 

Chappy

Pls take some pics!

 

I'm sure there will be some posted over on another (unmentioned) forum after the meet. I'll post a link

 

Thanks!